Every few years some genius decides to revive the Transformers story and bring it back to television. We’ve seen just about every version of the Transformers come and go: Beast Wars, Cybertron, Armada, Energon, Robots in Disguise. The list goes on and on.
And every time a new version of Transformers makes it to air, G1 fans cross their fingers, hoping against hope that the Transformers they know and love will not be sacrilegiously defiled. And every time those fans are sorely disappointed. Instead of returning to watch the Transformers they grew up with, they choose to pass, saying, “Well it’s not G1, but at least the next generation of children will enjoy it. Maybe they’ll like it so much, that they’ll do their research, buy the G1 DVDs and learn about what it means to be a real Transformer.”
Admittedly, Transformers Armada wasn’t “too bad.” It was bearable to watch. If you watch Beast Wars, it has its entertaining moments… though at the time hard core G1 fans opted to “go play outside” over watching the series.
Then when news of a movie got out a few years ago, G1 fans were excited. But that excitement was tempered with apprehension. Would the creative team (writers, director, producer) stay true to the G1 feel? Because that was what G1 was, it was more than a mindless cartoon to watch. It was something that was a part of you. The Transformers were real characters. The stories evoked feelings and emotions.
You watched Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen, and you saw a role model. You saw someone with ideals, who despite being a robot, had human frailties. You saw someone willing to risk it all to save not just his friends but the fate of the entire galaxy.
“Megatron must be stopped no matter the cost.”
We all remember that line from the original Transformers the movie. And with good reason. That line encapsulated what it meant to be Optimus Prime. Optimus went into battle knowing he wouldn’t make it out alive. And fans loved him for that.
After Transformers hit the big screen in live action, you walked out of the theater satisfied. It was good, not great. But it was true to the Transformers. It was real. The creators had done their research, and grabbed Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime. The G1 grittiness was there. It was war, and there were casualties. Cullen’s opened the movie and you felt like you did in the 1980s. The Transformers were back.
Now, there’s a series on the block called “Transformers: Animated.” I’ve just caught an episode and there’s one word to describe it. BAD! No seriously, it’s terrible. It’s a slapstick knock off and utter mutilation of the Transformers. It’s only the Transformers in name, not spirit. You’ll watch it and feel like you’re watching “Mucha Lucha,” which is a cool cartoon BUT NOT TRANSFORMERS.
I’m not sure what they were going for in creating this, but they obviously have no idea of who the Transformers are. I say who instead of what, because the Transformers became a living breathing entity. That’s what people fail to understand.
The creators of “Transformers: Animated” didn’t take the time to learn about the characters they were bringing back to TV. They didn’t take the time to analyze what makes the Transformers great. Read the comics, watch the original series, understand the essence of what made the Transformers last for those many seasons. It’s the underlying power of who the Transformers were that gave it the power to be revived time and time again in different genres like Looney Tunes.
It’s not just a bunch of robots that transform. That was Go-Bots.
Why sacrifice integrity? Why create a slapstick cartoon that looks like “Dexter’s Lab” except with robots? Urggh. GI Joe was ruined with Sigma 6 and now the Transformers are on their way out. Maybe people think that a cartoon can’t be serious and is only meant for 2 year olds. But when you look at Anime, most Anime has an adult feeling. Even look at “Justice League” or “The Batman” - both series came back and still can capture an audience no matter the age. There’s humor - sure. It’s not the original - no problem. The drama and intensity is still there. Heck, even Yu-Gi-Oh felt more real than “Transformers: Animated.”
In closing, the message is simple: If you can’t bring back Transformers the way it should be done, then just don’t do it.
I’m 37 years old, I grew up with TF G1 and loved it, Optimus Prime is still my rockstar but you need to open to new things and enjoy them, not just become an angry oldman “All past times were better”… I like TF animated, it is not, of course, g1 I dont think any series will ever be specially because in 1984 there was nothing like that. Today, in the year 2009, it is very hard to amaze a kid, so you need to impress him, not by a lot of explissions or blood, but by being creative, innovating I am also a bit bored of the manga-kids style of Teen titans, but I still enjoyed TF animated, and tehy know very well everything about G1 and beast machines, and armada etc and all those great tf series were mentioned, even briefly, in TF animated as a very respectful tribute
I like Animated and invite all other TF fans to enjoy it too
Y si, tienes razon santiago la serie esta de puta madre!!!
Animated sucked .I can’t fucking belive Optimus isn’t the leader >:( Ultra magnas looks like he has a fucking hemroid.The toys are shit 2, with the exeption of waspinator ,shockwave and the dinobots.The show messed up waspinator He’s a fucking phsyco.Where’s the exploding,bumbling idiot we all know and love <:(
Okay, this kinda made me mad. I’ll admit, I’m only 13, but I’ve seen bits and pieces (and 20 full episodes) of the original G1 Transformers. I love it to death, I have also watched up to the middle of season two of Beast Wars– and fell in total love with it.
“The creators of “Transformers: Animated” didn’t take the time to learn about the characters they were bringing back to TV.”
Who does that anymore? Sequels are NEVER as good as their originals were, doesn’t matter the series, sequels are never good– never have been, never will be.
“Admittedly, Transformers Armada wasn’t “too bad.” It was bearable to watch.”
I grew up with Armada I’ll have you all know! I’m not a mindless kid that knows nothing you know! I know what it means to grow up with something, loose it, and have salt rubbed in the wound with a rip off! But I love Energon and Cybertron when they aired.
“It’s a slapstick knock off and utter mutilation of the Transformers.”
That was the movies DUMBASS! The movies were the real rip-off, at least in Animated they don’t all look the same practically!
Okay, since I highly doubt anybody would read something a “stupid kid” wrote, I’m going to shut up right here. *walks away*
la serie es muy buena el que lea esto ponga en youtube obelien y saldra sus criticas y sus comentarios i siempre me encantan.solo abla de transformes(los juguetes).
ir does not suck! it’s great. it’s got a great storyline that DOES NOT contradict itself. who cares about the funky art style? it’s not like GI1 was perfect. EVERY series has it’s flaws.
Apologies for the typo, got too excited there.
Transformers Animated is a piece of shit, its like the power puff girls. If i wanted a sitcom, I’d watch Johnny Bravo. What the hell is wrong with kids these days?
Even the Japanese Masterforce and Victory dragonball-esque transformers rocked way way harder than this (and i was disappointed watching it back in 1989). And as for Michael Bay’s movie, it was a whole bunch of bullcrap compared to the 1986 one. Prime was a weakling, and what was with the rugby game at the end of the movie? All the dumbasses seemed to lap it up though.
I wonder how many of the teen titan transformers fans of today even watched the 1986 movie. How could anyone have watched the old movie and still watch this utter rubbish without wanting to go to Hasbro and throw a turd grenade at them? After all, its the least you could do after took a huge collective shit they’ve taken on the transformers franchise.
You jerkoffs make me sick.
G1 is a great series,but to me Animated is a lot more pleasing to the eye. That’s not the only reason I like it though.
I actually really like this series. I was slightly dissapointed at first, but then the episodes started getting better and better. Season 3 has gotten off to a great start, with Blurr going offline [or so they say], The appearence of Rodimus Prime and a few others, Ultra Magnus in critical condition [hammer gone, head and limbs mostly gone, Longarm/Shockwave, being discovered, and also Wasp turning into Waspinator. It’s also fun to see the new characters, Jetfire and Jetstorm. Sorta like the Lambo twins. I really like this series. It’s interesting and keeps you wanting more.
Frankly I don’t care about Sari. the episodes are much better without her bursting in and bitching at everyone.The last few episodes without her were great.
Wow, did anyone pay attention to the date of this article. It was written after the initial premiere. Yes Transformers Animated is good fun, but the pilot wasn’t that great in fact it sucked.
The show got significantly better after that. Especially when Ultra Magnus showed up. I’m sure all of you weren’t all amazed beyond your wildest beliefs after the premiere. If you were you’re zombies.
Transformers Animated is certainly entertaining, but it’s no Avatar.
don’t make bad comments on this show because about 1,000,000,000 people watch this show every day so stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is right here, in the present, not the future.
TFA actually mends in the storyline of all the different generations of transformers. This is a great way for kids to catch up with and add in some new characters of their own. I believe this is a great idea and so far the viewers are eating it up.
G1 is still the best though. but all the errors and random character add almost made it impossible to understand unless you read the comics, not to mention in the tv series, they flubbed up on rumble and frenzy’s colors. I also couldnt stand the fact that as one of the characters spoke, another one would be movie their mouths as if they were a vantriliquist’s puppet.
Now the movie messaed up everything and butchered the original series. Brawl’s misplaced name, peronality flaws, height differences (bumblebee being taller than jazz and scorpinok being puny), The origin of the transformers (G1=being created by the quintesseons. Movie=the allspark from beastwars), introduction of cross generation characters (barricade and blackout from armada) as well as unneeded onces (brawl, a comabticon, and bonecrusher,a constructicon), and many other flaws. if it wouldnt have been for the explosions,this movie would not have interested the ppl of today.
I have seen the old transformers series, the new movie etc. When I first saw the previews for the new series, frankly i was disgusted. I thought it would be terrible. But, I ended up liking it a lot. I am still a 5 year old at heart, so i find the humor in the show hilarious.
To fully appreciate the show you have got to stop comparing it to the G1 series. If you compare it to the original, ya it kinda sucks. But if you look at it as a continuation of the old show, it is a decent series.
Oh, and George King, if you are going to put something in all caps, would it kill you to check your spelling. It kinda makes you look like an idiot if you spell “because” wrong.
This may be your view. I, personally, love animated. I have watched all of the G1 episodes, along with beast wars and that horrible, HORRIBLE beast machines. I see Animated as a nice break from all of that serious stuff. Seriously, this new generation does not like all up-tight and serious save-the-world-at-all-costs characters. Also, remember that the Prime in this series is not the Prime in the old series. Ratchet may be, but this is a new, young, jazzed-up Prime. Transformers Animated has made all of the transformers more believable, with human personalities, instead of always-save-the-world up-tight superheros. The Autobots teaming up to stop a few Decepticons also shows how they have let up after the great war, and now need to realize that the Decepticons have not been killed off. A clever plot twist, in my opinion.
IN SHORT: TAKE YOUR OPINIONS AND SHOVE IT.
I used to watched the G1 series when I was small and I think Transformers Animated has a better storyline and maturely written than the original G1 series. Doesn’t have a lot of inconsistances on each episodes(like the G1 does)and very interesting concept on how it originated everything(like how Soundwave was created, how Blitzwing become a triple changer, etc.)
I didn’t like the cartoonish design at first but it grew on me later, the toys is heck a lot cooler I should say.
Dude, my only advice is to watch it from start to finish(the series is still in run anyway), Transformers Animated is truly a great re-interpretation of the original series(or should I say a lot better!), trust me!
I keep listening to the news speak about getting free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one.
Outdated postings should be taken off or revised. I respect your opinion knowing that it is only your opinion mate.
I loved the original series but I have to say I love this new animated version. It is very different, but isn’t that the point?
Amen to all you’ve said.